GOSH AW16 Launches!

Back when I wrote my last post on the GOSH cosmetics products that I love, I ended up being in contact with the lovely Sophie from their PR team, who told me that there were some exciting new launches coming for AW. I love AW fashion and beauty, and I can tell it's going to be a good season this year! Being a very new and small blog I wasn't expecting to be too involved in the campaign. but she actually sent me 3 of the launches to try out and review, for which I am so so grateful! 

The Velvet Touch Matt Lipstick in Grape, Foundation PLUS + in 004 Natural
 and the Giant Pro Liner

The Foundation PLUS + in the shade 004 Natural is the first thing I tried out. It claims to be a foundation and concealer in one, which means it's medium to buildable coverage, while being light and natural. It's formulated to be pigmented with active ingredients such as hyaluronic acid, liquid sea minerals and seaweed which makes the foundation nourishing and light on the skin whilst still providing good coverage, and has a satin finish.

GOSH Foundation Plus + in 004 Natural (photo from Superdrug website)

I was so looking forward to trying this foundation, but when I received it the shade is far too dark for my skin. From swatching it on my hand I was able to get a good impression of the coverage of the foundation, which is definitely medium buildable, as it's so lightweight! I had to mix it with my GOSH X-ceptional Foundation to lighten it, which did make the coverage slightly lighter but I am building up my tan with the Garnier Summer Body and Utan Gradual Facial tan so hopefully soon I'll be able to use the foundation on its own (or at least mostly). I absolutely loved the finish of the foundation, it blended beautifully into the skin and looked so natural but with great coverage, and it didn't settle into any dry patches. The foundation is £9.99 for 30ml, which is an absolute steal for this foundation!

The next new release I tried is the Giant Pro Liner, which I have to admit was a little scary because the nib is quite thick, but I have to say it gave me such a quick and accurate application! You can use the fine point to draw out your line and use the thicker edge to fill it in. It's a nice, strong black and I was surprisingly impressed! It retails at £6.99. A little tip GOSH suggest is if you're new to applying eyeliner, you can use their kohl white liner to sketch where you want the liner and trace over the top with the Giant Pro liner. You can also use tape to get sharp and symmetric wings!

GOSH Giant Pro Liner

If you read my previous GOSH post (link) then you'll know that the formula for the GOSH lipsticks are possibly my favourite of any I've tried, especially with the matte lips, so of course I was so happy to find one in the little PR package. The one I received is the Velvet Touch Matte liptick in the shade 'Grape', which is a beautiful deep wine red with a hint of berry, it's bloody gorgeous and I feel like it's all I'll be wearing on my lips in autumn and winter. They're made with natural waxes and hyaluronic acid to moisturise and smooth the lips. They're creamy, long lasting, and beautifully pigmented, as usual. There are 4 new shades in total and they're all beautiful.

The GOSH Velvet Touch Matt Lipstick in Grape swatched - such a beautiful deep colour!

Velvet Touch Matt Lipstick in Grape

The range also includes a few things I haven't yet tried. 

One of the products I don't yet own but will definitely be purchasing soon is the Overnight Primer Oil Essence (£14.49), which is ideal for prepping your skin the night before applying makeup. It's slightly more pricey than other items in the range but it's definitely worth it if you're looking to really pamper your skin. Your skin regenerates at night, and we usually use serum to give this process a boost, but for a little extra nudge this is perfect. It's full of anti-oxidants, fatty acids and oils which help to provide moisture, vitamins and minerals so you wake up with glowing and primed skin! It can be applied before night cream or alone, but I'd probably apply it before night cream in place of my serum. 

Overnight Primer Oil Essence (photo from Superdrug website)

The Lash Sculpting Fibre Mascara (£9.99), contains fibres up to 2mm long which add an amazing amount of volume, and the wand is formulated to scuplt and define the lashes with the fibres.

Lash Sculpting Fibre Mascara (photo from Superdrug website)

They also released a Brow Sculpting Brow Gel (£6.49) which helps create full, groomed brows using the fibres to make thicker brows. There are currently 2 shades (Nutmeg and Chestnut) in the range, but again I'm yet to try this. I like that the wand isn't super short, and that the bristles are super tiny which will really help to get into the hairs. 

Brow Sculpting Fibre Gel (photo from Superdrug website)

The last release that I haven't tried is the Contour & Strobe kit (£12.99), which contains 2 bronzers (which is a really nice touch, as you can mix them to make your perfect customised bronzer), a semi-matte blusher and of course a highlighter. There's a Light option and a Medium one. I really like the blush choices in these. In the light one it's a pretty peachy-coral colour, which is so flattering on pale skin, and then the pink in the medium kit is equally flattering on medium and darker skin tones. They claim to be ultra-light, soft and creamy to make them easy to apply and blend, and I can't wait to try this. 

Contour & Strobe kit (photo from Superdrug website)
L - Light
R - Medium

Finished look using the Foundation, Liner and Lipstick! 

All of the products mentioned can be found here: Superdrug Website and GOSH is currently on a 3 for 2 offer so snap them up quickly while you can get an item free!

I'm sure it won't be long before I've bought the rest of the range, so look out for my review of those, but for now I hope you enjoyed this and thank you to GOSH for letting me try a few things from the launch! 

See you again soon! 

Paige x

This post contains PR samples.

Boyfriend does my makeup!

I've joked with my boyfriend Adam about him doing my makeup for ages, and now that I have a blog I convinced him to do it for the good of the blog. I did film it, but my camera cut out after 20 minutes and there was nothing worth seeing there, however I've taken some super flattering photos of the results.

I provided him with a box full of several options for each type of products and gave him free reign of the lot, including my makeup brushes.

Plenty of options to choose from.

He knew enough to choose a primer first, but I had given him 4 different primers to use. He decided to go with a mix of 2 primers. He picked the miracle primer from Primark as he said he'd heard me mention it a few times before (glad he listens sometimes!), as well as the (unfortunately discontinued now) GOSH Cream Foundation primer. The way he picked them was '...that says primer on it, I'll use that'. As he was looking for primers he also picked out my eyelash curlers, discarded them and said 'we won't be needing those'. Can't blame him there, they are terrifying.

The method of application he chose for primer was a single finger, cautiously spreading the product around my face, which worked well enough for him, apparently.

He then went back into the box in search of the next step, which he decided was concealer. He picked out the Maybelline Eraser Eye concealer, and when I asked what he was meant to do with that he said 'its an eye thingy', put it down and left it at that. I picked up my Freedom Pro Correct palette and handed it to him. He said that was a 'concealer thingy', and wanting a more in depth description I asked what each of the colours would be used for.

Green - 'goes on spots'
Lilac - 'freckles'
Salmon - 'scabs'

Well, he tried. I tried to explain the colour wheel/concealer concept but he wasn't having any of it, so that was also put aside and left.

Adam cleverly worked out that the next step would be foundation, and said he'd seen me mixing the 2 shades of Rimmel Lasting Perfection 25hr foundation together, and did the same, using the Real Techniques buffing brush. I have to say, he did really well on this. He even went over the blending with my Makeup Revolution blending sponge and blended into the jawline/onto the neck. The colour match wasn't exactly right, but by the time he'd finished you wouldn't have been concerned about the foundation colour match.

He picked out the Sleek Cream Contour kit and applied only the darkest shade into the hollows of my cheeks, around my hairline on my forehead and even down the sides of my nose, again blending with a sponge, as he'd seen me do before (and he read the blog post I'd done on it). I was starting to relax and feel like I was in safe hands here. He chose to use my Makeup Revolution Radiant Lights powder in Breathe as my setting powder with a 'big fluffy brush', as he said he'd seen me do before, and to be honest I was really quite impressed at how much he'd picked up from watching me do it.

Then he went for contour powder. Part of me died inside as I watched him pick up a ton of product on a fluffy eyeshadow brush and apply it to my cheekbones. I know how pigmented the powder in my Makeup Revolution contour palette is and boy did he go hard on that contour. He then decided to blend it out using the same little fluffy brush and I felt him blending it downwards, which resulted in a really nice orange jawline which you can see in the photos.

Happy with the face, he went on to eyeshadow. I was impressed when he went for an eyeshadow primer (I'd left my freedom one in the box in case he went for it), not so impressed when he used my MAC 226 crease brush to blend it. He chose to work with my Naked original palette for eyeshadow. He applied Sin all over the lid (and I was really happy with the fact that he chose a nice light pink shimmer for this as I use that too), but then he went for the interesting choice of Half-Baked (a gold shimmer) for the inner corner/inner v. He tried to define the crease of one eye using Toast but made the creative decision to do it more where my browbone highlight would go than in my actual crease, and when he realised that wasn't the effect he wanted, he left it there and didn't do the same on the other eye. Good choice. Very artistic asymmetric eyes.

Lovely uneven eyeliner and mud stripe.

We were both understandably terrified about eyeliner. He chose a felt tip pen from Primark for the easiest application (it was a good choice but in reality didn't help much at all). He tried to even out the wings with a very enthusiastic 'boom lads' as he applied them, and I guess he didn't do too badly for a first go. I hope he appreciates now how stressful eyeliner can be!

The mascara went really well, to be fair to him. He applied it evenly and very carefully, for fear of poking me in the eye with it (despite my insisting that years of doing that myself had made my eyeballs practically numb). He noticed that the mascara was a bit clumpy (which the MAC one he used can be) and tried a little wiggling motion to separate them, but they didn't look that bad. He used an eyeshadow/brow kit for the brows and they look pretty good considering the circumstances!

He was very excited to use the highlighter, although I doubt he'd admit it. He knew what highlighter was from me showing him, and he picked the 'fancy looking' one (MAC Mineralize Skin Finish in Lightscapade) and was considering using my Real Techniques Contour brush before (thankfully) switching to the Fan brush, and left me a very very blinding stripe of highlight.

As the last product he chose a nude lip by Rimmel, and again he didn't do too badly. He kept it all within the lines and gave a pretty even coverage.

I have to say, he really didn't do too badly. When I asked him when I should wear this particular look, he gave it a moments thought and said "When you get absolutely hammered and decided to do your makeup before you go out somewhere", which is great advice, and is an accurate description of the look.

Orange jawlines are the best jawlines... right?

That highlight tho

Let me know if you enjoyed this post! It's a bit silly and different from what I've been doing so far but I really enjoyed it (and I think Adam did too, even if he denies it!).

Thanks to Adam for allowing me to be blessed by your artistic talent.

See you again soon!

Paige x

Primark PS Pro review - No Ragrets (well, maybe some).

Primark PS Pro range

When I heard Primark were releasing a pro range, I couldn't wait to try it out. I haven't tried much from their original PS Love range, because I was doubtful of the quality, aside from grabbing a cheap brow pencil or lip balm every now and then. However, this new range promises professional quality for a budget price. The products range from £2-£5, which is incredible, if the products work.

I bought the lip scrub, the miracle primer and a felt tip lip liner from the range, as well as an emergency brow kit from the old PS Love range that had a little spoolie in, which I've needed for a while.

I went through my regular cleansing routine (let me know if you want a post on that!) so as to ensure that I was giving the products the best chance. Then I went in with the lip scrub. I've tried lip scrubs from Lush, which always smell amazing and taste just as good, however at around £6 each they are slightly more expensive. The £3 lip scrub from the PS Pro collection contains vitamin e and almond oil, so not only does it smell incredible but it is super hydrating as well as working to exfoliate. Big fan of this product.

PS Pro Lip Scrub - £3

The miracle primer claims to 'create a smooth flawless finish, (and) minimises the appearance of pores and fine lines'. When I swatched this in the store, it reminded me of the Benefit Porefessional primer, so of course I was very excited to use it because I'd love to find a good dupe of that, especially if it's at £5 a bottle! The primer itself comes out of the tube as an almost mousse like consistency, but it glides on the skin to create a really nice, smooth canvas. I also think it actually did a great job of minimising my pores, and didn't cling to any dry patches. I'm so happy with this primer! I've used it for a few days now and it really does help the longevity of my foundation, so much so that I've added it to my everyday makeup routine.

PS Pro Miracle Primer - £5

I then applied my foundation (I used the Rimmel Lasting finish 25hr foundation here) with a Mac 193 brush and then blended with a damp real techniques blending sponge. The finish over the top of this primer was incredible, I couldn't stop looking at it. My skin looked clear, even and almost glowing. Of course the foundation is doing half the work here, it's a great medium coverage foundation, but I've used it without the primer and I much prefer it with!

I then decided to try the products in the emergency brow kit, which contained tweezers, a spoolie, a brow pencil and a brow gel. I could only find one shade of brow pencil, but I hoped it would match because I was eager to try the whole set. The brow pencil was the creamiest pencil I've ever used, I had to use the slightest touch to get a huge amount of colour, which actually made it kind of difficult to precisely full in my brows. I used the spoolie to brush them through to make sure the colour was evenly distributed. However when I applied the brow gel because the pencil was so creamy it was all moved by the brow gel brush, which made my brows look ridiculous and patchy, so I left the gel to set so I could come back to them later and fix it, but as I said this wasn't from the pro range so I didn't expect much, and I like the other 3 products so I don't mind too much.

PS Love Brow kit - £2

After this disappointment I was hoping the felt tip liner would be a winner, but alas it wasn't meant to be. I found the colour didn't come out as strong on the lips as when I swatched it in store, and I wasn't able to fill in my lips well enough to wear it on its own. It did last quite a while though and I didn't find it drying, but there are better budget lip liners out there.

PS Pro Felt Lip Liner - £3

Despite the disappointment of the liner, I think some of the PS Pro range is incredible for the price, particularly the miracle primer, which I've already recommended to a number of people and will probably purchase again and again. I'd like to try the mineral foundation, also £5, but they didn't have my shade in stock, so I'll hopefully pick that up another time. Have you tried any other products from the collection that you'd recommend?

I just purchased a few products from the range GOSH, in Superdrug, which I know I love, so I might be doing a review on that soon. See you then!

Paige

(Ps shout out to Lucy for the blog title - she really wanted me to call it no ragrets)